Rocket Punch-Up (Part A) by Michael Keens/ Exodus In the world of Pokémon, there are many trainers, some young, some small, who made a name for themselves. Cody Capture was one of such people, a trainer at the age of twelve. He had short bronze-like orange hair in a curtain style which hung over his white headband and forehead, he usually wore blue clothes, especially a light blue waistcoat with many pockets. He was courageous and kind but a little impatient. His parents worked at the Power Plant full time, and his older siblings, Tetsubo and Megumi, were busy on their own journeys. Cody had two good friends and his age, Nat and Tom, each on their way to the Pokémon League for dreams of simply competing in it. Natalie, or Nat’ as she preferred, was African in origin and wore bright clothing, mainly a red top, long purple trousers and a yellow sleeveless coat. Her hair was black and she had a ponytail, and several strands with many different beads and accessories. She was a little wild and outrageous at times but she was a kind and compassionate person at heart. Finally, was Tom, he wore brown jeans, green sneakers and a red coat and his hair was short, brown and curly. Tom was a little withdrawn and sometimes difficult, but he was the intelligent thinker that kept the group from making dangerous mistakes. The trio had each earned four badges, each hard earned, one from Juniper City, one from Crimson City, one from Jade Town and one from Saffron City. Now they were on their way to Celadon City for their fifth badge through the long rocky route, Route 7. All three trainers were students of Professor Conker, from Juniper City, he worked under the same rules as Professor Oak, by giving trainers a choice of a Squirtle, a Bulbasaur and a Charmander. Conker was a little forgetful, but a friendly researcher, none the less. Cody currently had five Pokémon: Jet: Cody’s first and favourite, a confident and showoff Squirtle that took pride in its victories, but recently, he had suffered some losses that lowered both his and Cody’s spirits. Poisonpin: A huge rampaging Nidoking that only listened to Cody, he was evolved almost as soon as he became a Nidorino. Flower: An adorable Vileplume, it was faithful, trustworthy and caring, but too weak as a Gloom, Cody thought evolving it as soon as he found a Grass Stone was a good idea. Sharp: A tiny Eevee that soon became a Jolteon, Cody relied on this Pokémon quite often as he was evolved enough to win any fight and he continued to learn new moves. Finally, there was Torch: A Growlithe pup that was abandoned until Cody found him, he nurtured it back to health and it became totally loyal to him, the only problem was, he was young and so, took some time to grow and learn new moves. Cody felt a Fire Stone would help him, but didn’t know how to get one, the big store at Celadon might sell them, but Cody had heard that buying Stones was quite expensive. Nat owned a Charmander, a Raichu, a Slowbro, a Cubone, a Nidoqueen and a Bellsprout, and Tom owned a Krabby, a Vulpix, a Bulbasaur, a Grimer, a Magnemite and a Ditto. Each decided to let out their favourite Pokémon for the walk. Cody with his Squirtle, Jet, Nat and her Raichu, Livewire, and Tom with his Krabby, Snipper. It had been a long trip, but the three had come a long way. They started their journey a while back, straight after the last Pokémon League which was when trainers were allowed to train for the next year’s League. Cody thought to himself, it had been some time since he’d last been home, or at the Power Plant to visit his parents, but Cody was fine with just his friends, he was quite independent for his age of twelve. Now that he thought about it, big brother Tetsubo would have finished his five year stay at Pokémon Tech, the letter he received told that Tetsubo had decided against going straight to the League and wanted to train Pokémon like everyone else, he couldn’t have gone straight to the League anyway because a fire set his exams back two months and all students graduating that year would have to participate in this year’s League. “What a waste of time.” Cody thought, “Putting in all that study just to be behind all his friends and family, and then there was the fees to get into Pokémon Tech in the first place, Mom and Dad worked very hard for that money to enrol him.” Then there was Megumi, his sister, way older than him, she disappeared five years ago and didn’t even have the decency to write once in a while, Mom and Dad were worried sick about her and she didn’t seem to care. Time to put those thoughts aside and look ahead. “Squirtle! Squirt!” Jet cried. “What is it buddy?” Jet pointed ahead, there was a Pokémon lying on the hard path, with bruises scattered all over its body. “Agh! Its hurt!” cried Cody. “Well pick it up and take it to a Pokémon Centre.” suggested Nat. Cody took slow steps towards the Machop, but it looked up, eyes shot forward, and it made an impressive leap into a fighting stance. “It still wants to battle?!” asked Tom in disbelief. “If that's the way it wants it. Jet, use a Water Gun, but go easy on it.” “Squirt!” Jet twisted its head back and a small burst of water exploded from its mouth, but the Machop leapt right over it and brought its hand down on Jet’s head. Rubbing his eyes, Jet failed to see the next attack, Low Kick, followed by Mega Punch. Quickly recalling it, Cody realised he’d underestimated the Fighting Pokémon. “Maaaa-Chop!” “Time to get someone a little more suited to the task, Poisonpin!” The Nidoking appeared and roared. “Poisonpin, use a Horn Attack, but be careful not to underestimate it, or hurt it too much.” Unleashing another roar, Poisonpin loomed over the Machop, who suddenly realised how small he was. Swinging its head forward, the horn connected and the Machop fell to the ground. “Pokéball! Go!” It hit with a solid snap and the Machop was sucked in, too weak to make the effort to break free. “Now let’s get it healed...” Later on, Cody walked around the Pokémon Centre nervously. “You’re really worried about that Machop, aren’t you Cody?” asked Tom. “Of course I am!” shouted Cody in response. “Don’t snap at us, we’re all worried.” said Nat a little annoyed. The five note jingle notified Cody that Machop was healed. Cody eagerly ran into the room. “Your Machop should be just fine, don’t let it battle so much next time.” said the Nurse Joy kindly. “But its not mine, I found it at the corner of Route 7. Something else did that!” They both turned back to the Machop, but it wasn’t there, it had disappeared in a moment. “Wha? It’s... gone.” spluttered Cody. “This is very strange.” commented Joy. “Thanks Nurse Joy for all you’ve done...” Cody could only think that it had returned to the same spot and immediately had him and his friends return there. Back in the area, Cody approached the exact spot he first encountered the Machop. “Look, why don’t we split up?” he suggested. “Why are we going after the Machop, it got involved in a battle, that’s all.” replied Tom in his usual manner. “Come on, Tom, those bruises weren’t natural.” argued Cody. “Yeah, yeah.” said Tom giving up, he went his own way, as did Nat. Cody went straight through the bushes where Machop first appeared. “Well, this seems suspicious enough.” A large metal shack stood right behind the trees, a small silver truck stood outside with the letter R on it. R... That one initial was familiar but Cody couldn’t put a finger on it, and there was Machop. Pounding on the doors, it had a look of rage on its simple face. The door swung open and a Fearow dived bombed it, this was bad, Flying Pokémon had the edge over Fighting-types. Punching it back, both fell into the complex. Cody couldn’t just watch and ran in after it. “Well, well, well, the escaped Machop returns.” said a snide female voice. “This time you won’t get away.” added a young male. Looking around, there were many caged Pokémon, all looking very unhappy. That must have been it, the R stood for Team Rocket: The Pokémon thieves! Before making a move, Cody picked out his mobile phone and alerted Tom, Nat and the police to this place. Done with that, he stood up. The two Rockets looked surprised. “What’s a kid doing here?!” asked the male. “Kid? You’re just as old as me!” shouted Cody. “You really messed up, you’ll never beat us.” said the girl. The two kids wore black uniforms and berets, and both had short green hair. “To protect the world from desperation.” “To unite the evil in every nation.” “To erase the factors of truth and love.” “To extend our reign to the planets above.” “Lorraine.” “Larry.” “Junior Rocket steals at the speed of light.” “Surrender now, cos we’ll win the fight.” “O-kay.” replied Cody, “That makes no sense.” “Oh be quiet!” shouted Lorraine drawing a Pokéball, “Get ready for the thrashing of your life!...” End of Part A Part B Back to the Side Stories Back to the Pokézone